Users are increasingly utilizing computing devices to access various types of content. Oftentimes the content is provided at little or no cost to the user, with a provider of the content obtaining monetization through the display of one or more advertisements or recommendations along with the content. If the user is viewing content for a specific product, for example, the provider might cause content for one or more other products to be recommended to the user, where the recommendations are generated using information such as products that were viewed and/or purchased previously by the user. For new users, or users who have not yet logged in or been identified to the content provider system, there will be no such information available on which to base recommendations. The recommendations will solely be based on information such as items in the same category or similar items, which will not provide the optimal experience for the user or the provider, and will result in the use of resources to display content that may not be of interest to the user.